


Falling: To Fall Behind

by samworth



Series: Falling [8]
Category: Numb3rs (TV)
Genre: Comfort, Comfort_Fest_2018, Friendship, Gen, Paperwork
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-16
Updated: 2019-05-16
Packaged: 2020-03-06 10:04:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,235
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18848833
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/samworth/pseuds/samworth
Summary: Don just wanted to get his work done. But Megan was stealing it. Larry was sympathetic, and then she even wanted to eat an elephant. Don almost wished to be a junior agent again. Back then, this wouldn't have happened.





	Falling: To Fall Behind

**Author's Note:**

> _Sorry for the delay in postings, real life interfered. Hopefully, it gets better now._

The lines and words in front of him blurred. Sighing, Don rubbed across his face. The pile of paperwork refused to shrink despite his best effort to tackle it.

"Good night, Don!"

Startled, he looked up. "What?"

Megan raised her head to look at him while she smoothed down her jacket; her purse dangling in her left hand. She looked as fresh as if she had just arrived in the office without a trace of tiredness. Something that couldn't be said about him, Don noted as he looked down and saw his wrinkled shirt. Slowing down her movement, she tilted her head and narrowed her eyes. Don knew he needed to connect the words he had heard to an adequate answer or Megan would start a conversation that would sap his last energy to finish his paperwork. Paperwork - that was the right clue. He glanced to her desk and, low and behold, she was finished. Finally, it clicked what she wanted. "Oh yes, good night."

Megan remained rooted in place, only her facial muscles moved while she studied him. He fought against the urge to shift in place. He knew the tactic Megan was using, he had taught it her himself.

After a long moment, Don lowered his glance and refocused on his work. He couldn't afford to wait until Megan left, instead he needed to keep going before he fell asleep.

Megan took a deep breath and slowly breathed out.

Refusing to take the bait, Don kept his eyes on the paperwork trying to fill in the blanks. What time exactly had he received the search warrant?

"You do realize that you are also supposed to go home and sleep?" Megan's voice cut through the silence that had settled across the FBI office after most agents had left to call it a night.

Don gave up his fight for concentration. He dropped his pen and leaned back. Closing his eyes to rest for a moment, he rocked back and forth. "Can't," he said. Forcing his eyes open again, he pointed to his unbudging pile of paperwork. "Still have to tackle this stack and roughly the same amount on the computer."

Megan's watchful glare left him and scanned his amount of paperwork. Her eyes widened. Slowly, she shook her head. "I don't think that this is possible. At least not in one single sitting."

Throwing his hands in the air, Don groaned. "Whom are you telling this? But it's gotta be done and I don't have a choice in here." He rubbed again across his face, feeling already a stubble on his chin. It was a sure sign that he not only felt but truly had worked for a long time already. Moving his shoulders to loosen up his hardened muscle, he sighed again. "I fell behind in my work and now it catches up with me."

Megan eyed him and then the pile. Her eyes shifted to the elevator behind her and back to his sorry self.

After forcing himself to straightened up, Don picked up his pen again. There was no way but through it. "Go ahead and enjoy your dinner with Larry," he said, assuming that this was what Megan had planned for the evening. Her outfit and the twinkle in her eyes certainly seemed to affirm this. "I'm going to get there."

Don waited until she had turned. "And if it is the last thing I do," he grumbled under his breath. He watched her entering the elevator, feeling a pang of jealousy. Some days he really missed the early days when he couldn't decide anything but at least could leave the office at a reasonable time.

* * *

Don focused on his work, trying to figure out if he needed to fill out the box if there was a discharge of a duty weapon or only if there was an actually shooting. He'd rather not have to explain how his team used a bullet, the ballistic curve and a rather lengthy explanation of probabilities to make a point. All thanks to the effort of one math consultant who was probably enjoying his evening with Amita while Don was still trying to finish the resulting paperwork of his stroke of genius.

Suddenly, a shadow was cast across his desk and a slender hand reached across his desk. Startled, he shoved his chair back, ready to fight. "What!"

Looking up, he found Megan standing in front of him. She held a file in her hand, the price of her move.

Taking a deep breath to calm down again, Don narrowed his eyes. "What are you doing?" For a fleeting moment, he actually feared that he had worked only on one report until the next morning, but then he recognized her clothes. She still wore the same blouse as earlier.

"Helping you." Grinning, she crossed her arms, leaving Don with the impression that she was waiting for him to catch up. He just raised an eyebrow in a silent question. Megan rolled her eyes. "I had a rather interesting discussion with Larry about heights of pile and time necessary to move them. He sends his regards by the way and will be later by with some refreshments."

Don shock his head. Whatever Megan and Larry had talked about wasn't any of his business and for the time being, he wasn't even interested. He pressed his lips together and held out his hand. With a small movement of his fingers he indicated that he wanted to have his file back. "That's mine."

Megan smirked and pressed the file against her chest. "Somehow I don't think you're going to write me up."

Don leaned back and dropped his hand. "You're stealing my paperwork. That's a crime, you know?"

"Please," Megan drew out the word, "I didn't steal it, we are sharing." She took off her jacket. "It's too much work for you alone. Even Larry agreed, so we postponed our dinner."

"That's nice of you," Don said. The smile on his face didn't reach his eyes nor did it help with his exhausted expression. "But firstly, I fell behind and secondly you have finished your paperwork. It's my part that's missing." He was painfully aware of this. But he couldn't foist this work off on somebody else. It required his signature, and he didn't trust anybody to blindly sign a paper.

"Don, you do realize that I'm your relief?" Megan sat down and grabbed her glasses. She had set her mind to work and nothing would stop her. "I may not be able to sign all the forms and papers, but there is a lot I am allowed to sign. Everything else you'll find on your desk."

Her face was drawn into the same determined expression she had used whenever she had refused to let go of something - like a case or a question. Out of experience, Don knew that she was here to stay, and he should save his words, but the paperwork was his responsibility. "It's my job, not yours," he insisted.

"You're really stubborn, you know that?" A small flicker of annoyance crossed her face before she settled on a smirk. "There's no I in team."

Don chuckled. That one was easy and even in his tired state he could rebuke her argument. "There's not, but I'm pretty sure that there's an I in supervisor."

Megan laughed out loud. "Point taken." She rolled over with her chair. Putting her elbows on her knees, she leaned forward with a serious expression on her face. "Then I have an old but important question for you: how do you eat an elephant?"

He paused, narrowing his eyes. "I have no time for useless psychological questions." Pulling at his earlobe, he stared at Megan. "Besides, how do you go from a spelling bee to an elephant?"

"Easy," Megan answered with a grin. "The comparison suggests itself by just looking at the size of your pile of work."

Don blinked and eyed said stack. Shrugging, he conceded. "Fine. But I was already working on it, one file at a time. Like you're supposed to eat an elephant."

A triumphant smile crossed Megan's face and she leaned back. "That's one way. But there is even a better way to eat an elephant." She made a dramatic pause. "Inviting your friends to eat with you."

He felt her eyes on him as he worked his jaw, thinking it through. He knew full well what she was trying to point out but it wasn't so easy to let go of the integrated belief that he had to do it himself. She seemed to be waiting. "It's still my responsibility," he finally offered, knowing that Megan wouldn't except anything else.

She snorted. Then she booted her computer and opened the file as if he hadn't said anything at all. "Then look at it like this." She glanced to him over the rim of her glasses with a twinkle in her eyes. She was clearly humoring him. "I want to learn and you can teach me whatever I need to know about the paperwork of a supervisor."

Before Don could find a suitable answer, a yawn overtook him. Not only Megan but apparently also his body had conspired against him. He sighed. "Fine." Pushing himself back upright to work on his file, he offered his first and only advice. "The highest priority - never ever fall behind. It's impossible to catch up as long as new paperwork is generated." He laughed. "And as long as you have David, Colby and a few mathematicians on your team, there is bound to be paperwork."

"Roger," Megan answered and deepened into her work.

As far as Don could tell, she had grabbed David's report about their damaged car. Four cars had been involved, two from innocent bystanders, one car driven by the offender and one car driven by Colby. David had probably just lost a bet and had been the unlucky one to write the report. Thinking about the amount of concentration needed to follow the carefully misleading words to understand what exactly had transpired and if it required more intervention than a signature on a report, Don suddenly was awfully glad that Megan and her experience in profiling would overtake this duty. She probably knew already what exactly had happened and wouldn't need to read it threefold.

"Thanks," he mumbled without looking up.

"You're welcome," Megan answered.

Don glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes. She appeared to be engrossed in her work, the small smile on her face either from amusement about Colby and David or because she had successful worn him down. Either way, he was thankful.

She looked up as if she felt his eyes on her. Their eyes met. "You can thank me best the next time you write my performance report."

Don chuckled. That sounded more like Megan. But he knew already what he would write and it would be far easier than these reports.

* * *

_A few hours later ..._

Megan clicked her mouse and then stretched while Don closed his file with a satisfied sigh.

Without looking, he made a grab for the next file. But his fingers only felt the smooth bottom of his inbox. Confused, he looked up. He blinked, almost afraid that his eyes were playing tricks on him. But the image remained. "It's empty," he stated in awe.

Megan stopped with her stretching exercises and stared at the empty space where their files had been. Slowly, a big grin started to spread across her face. "That's how you eat an elephant.!"

Don laughed out loud. Finally finished, he jumped up, ignoring the pain in his body from hours sitting down and clapped Megan on her shoulder.

She shared his smile. Megan shut down her computer and glanced around, noting at the same time as Don the half-eaten food container s standing around their desks . "Let's see, if we can eat all the food Larry had brought over the same way."

"Nah, that's a bigger elephant," Don said and grinned. "For this we are going to need a lot more friends. Where's Larry?"

Megan 's face lit up. "At Charlie's."

"Then we better get going." He still was tired out but the prospect of eating the left-overs with his family and friends was enough motivation to squeeze in another hour before sleeping.

As he entered the elevator and listened to Megan 's call to Charlie, his gaze grazed his desk. His empty desk. He glanced to Megan who gave him thumbs-up, signaling him that they would be expected.

Leaning back against the wall, Don closed his eyes for a moment. Tomorrow there would be new paperwork waiting for him. But for today, his paperwork was done.

Without opening his eyes, Don said just one word. "Thanks." He felt Megan brush against his shoulder as she leaned against the wall beside him.

"You're welcome."

The elevator car stopped and Don pushed off the wall. He strode out while the doors were still in the process of opening with Megan right behind him, leaving all his weariness behind. The agent on duty waiting to enter the elevator stepped back to clear a path for them. From the outside it wasn't visible what Megan had done, but Don would remember. He always did.

He had fallen behind but not down, thanks to a little help from his friend.

* * *

**END**

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> _Thank you for reading!_


End file.
